ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson says he has no regrets about running for president for the second time and finishing a distant runner-up as a Libertarian candidate.

He’s already talking about his next challenge, and it won’t be another try for public office.

Johnson, 63, said he plans to be a bicyclist, riding nearly 3,000 miles along the Continental Divide from Canada down into New Mexico sometime in early June.

The Taos resident and ardent triathlete is referring to the 2,768-mile Great Divide Mountain Bike Route from Banff in Alberta, Canada, to Antelope Wells in New Mexico’s Hidalgo County.

“I’m dedicating myself to health and fitness,” Johnson told the Albuquerque Journal. “Maybe I stay politically active, but not as a candidate. I will leave that to others.”

There are many in the Libertarian Party that were not happy with the idea of Johnson as the standard bearer of the party this time around but no one can doubt that with Johnson the Libertarian Party made great strides that can be built on if the future.

Could Johnson have done better? That is a question left to history and hindsight, but the fact remains that the LP outperformed itself historically. With over 4 million votes cast for Johnson, the Libertarian Party saw the largest percentage increase it has ever had in a Presidential election. That cannot be discounted because people in the party felt that Johnson should not have been the nominee. He brought more people into the Liberty movement and should be given credit for that.

Now it is time to build and expand even further as the two major parties are on the road to disarray.